the Harajuku District and Harajuku Fashion

I guess it's Harajuku week!
It wasn't intended, but here we are, I guess!

The Harajuku District is a district in Tokyo, Japan, known for being the center of Japanese fashion and Japanese youth culture. Takeshita Street, or Takeshita Dori, is the street that is lined with the most shops, thrift stores, boutiques, and food stores, and is the focus of the Harajuku District.

Harajuku has shops for every type of fashion under the sun, from Mori (forest inspired clothing),to Goth, to Lolita, to Visual Kei, to Fairy Kei, to Gyaru, to Decora. Harajuku has shops for all kinds of extravagant and alternative styles.

Originally a village for samurai, Harajuku's history in fashion began after WWII, during this Allied occupation of Japan. During the occupation American and other foreign soldiers lived in army barracks in the Harajuku District. Shops that appeal to the Westerners in the area were opened.

Japanese youth were very curious about these foreign peoples and their cultures, so they would come to look at the western goods that were in Harajuku at the time. Fashion designers eventually realized that they could capitalize on this curiosity and the area, and opened up shops in Harajuku.

The off-brand misfits shirt is really cracking me up...

Then, the Olympic Games came to Japan in 1964, and the Athletes were housed in the former army 
barracks, which drew large crowds to the Harajuku district, which made business boom in the shops that were already there. This made designers and shop owners interested in the area. In 1978, a mall was opened, and by this time Harajuku was the ideal place for fashion businesses and designers to be.

Ever since the 1970's, Harajuku and its fashion have been steadily growing. Harajuku is home to many different styles, and the origin to loads of street styles. Many of the styles have escaped Japan, and spread to the US, much of Europe, and other countries.

Harajuku fashion seems to put an emphasis on bright colours and accessorizing, but other fashions such as Goth and Mori are popular, despite not following the "brightly coloured" trend.

Have a great weekend and, as always, creep it real!

Si

 

Gothic Quotes

Does Lolita Fashion Promote Pedophilia?

TW for pedophilia, sexualization of children, and child sexual assault mentions in the following post. Read at your own risk.

 

Lolita is a controversial novel by Russian author Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita was published in 1955 and is about a middle-aged professor named Humbert Humbert becoming obsessed with and sexually fantasizing about his landlord's 12-year old daughter, Dolores (whom he nicknames Lolita). He becomes "sexually involved" with Lolita after he marries her mother. After Lolita's mother dies by being hit by a car during an argument with Humbert, Humbert takes Lolita from her boarding school and has to bribe her and manipulate her to stop her from going to the police. During this time, Humbert also bribes Lolita with candy and fun events for sexual favors. Eventually, Lolita runs away from Humbert and gets married to another man who knows nothing about her past. He spends years looking for her, but when he finds her, she is 17,  pregnant, and in need of money. Humbert gives her the money, and leaves her alone.

So what does Lolita fashion have to do with the novel? And does it promote pedophilia? Based on the name of the fashion style sharing a name with the novel, one could make snap judgments and say "of course!", but I'm here to discuss both sides of the argument.

Firstly, the name has not been confirmed to have a connection with Nabokov's novel- but where else could the name have come from? The women who wear Lolita fashion, particularly Sweet Lolita,  are often expected to act sweet, childlike, and girlish. The makeup of many Lolita people is used to accentuate or imitate a young child's features- lots of blush, circle lenses to make the eyes look bigger, et cetera. The clothing is modeled after Victorian clothing, and the patterns are often modeled after children's and nursery wallpaper, featuring cute designs such as unicorns, food, children's toys, and more.

But is it necessarily wrong for women to wear a pink fluffy skirt with teddy bears on it? Just because we affiliate this style with children, does it mean that the people who wear this style are sexualizing it, and in turn, children?

There is an active portion of the Lolita community that does sexualize this, and there are plenty of people who find something about Lolita inherently sexual, and find the childlike act and clothing attractive. The things we see and are surrounded by are what helps us form opinions. If we're taught that grown women doing things commonly linked with children is sexy- we'll accept it. Which can be disturbing, because after we see that, we've made that connection- things that are associated with children = sexy.This does perpetuate the idea that something about children is attractive- and that's incredibly problematic. Plenty of people are able to discern that there is a difference between grown women and children doing something; but a large enough group isn't able to discern this. This is where the issues lie.


But, those people aren't the majority. Sometimes people just want to wear pink fluffy skirts and pastels and look cute. For a lot of people, Lolita has nothing to do with children. People just want to feel like princesses, or dress up with frills and feel decadent. There is nothing wrong with looking or wanting to look cute. The issue lies in associating Lolita fashion with children and sex simultaneously.

If members of the Lolita community can work to divorce the idea of their fashion with children, I believe there would no longer be an issue. I encourage members of the Lolita subculture to think hard about their clothing choices and activities, and think deeply about the consequences of affiliating with things linked with children when they are an adult with the ability to consent.

Creep it real!

Si

Vocabulary: Lolita Fashion

A group of Sweet Lolitas

 

Classic Lolita

Brief History of Lolita

Lolita is a fashion subculture that originated in Japan, specifically Harajuku with brands such as Angelic Pretty and Milk. Lolita fashion takes its inspiration from Victorian and Rococo eras and aims to be fanciful, fluffy, and elegant.

The name of Lolita does not have any known roots but it shares its name with the novel by the same name by Vladimir Nabokov. There is no known connection between the two, though.

Gothic Lolita

Lolita is thought to begin in the 1970's, popularized in the 1990's, partly as the more "feminine" counterpart of Visual Kei, along with Fairy Kei.

There are many subdivisions of Lolita, including Sweet Lolita, Gothic Lolita, Classic Lolita, and more.

Sweet Lolitas wear pastel clothing inspired by sweets and cute patterns. The goal of Sweet Lolita is to look as cute and, as the name implies, sweet! Sweet Lolitas'  skirts are often shorter than those of Gothic Lolitas and Classic Lolis, their skirts stopping at or above the knee. This style is closest to fairy kei out of all subdivisions of Lolita.

Gothic Lolitas often wear styles similar to those that goths wear; usually black, spooky, lacy, Victorian-inspired outfits.

Classic Lolita is the most Victorian-inspired of the substyles of Lolita. It is often seen as the more "mature" version of the other styles of Lolita, due to the more toned-down colors and elegant fashion. (but I feel as though this is a bit of a bash on the other styles of Lolita!)

Many Lolitas buy their outfits- generally called "coords"; but due to the clothing often being expensive due to the elaborate stitching, pleating, and whatnot, but many also sew their own coords, and even sell them.

Creep it real!

Si

 

Alternative Fashion & Mental Health

Collaboration with Abbi!

With the slew of articles linking depression, self harm, and Goth fashion, one has to ask- why?

A study of 2,300 british teens conducted by Oxford University found that 15 year olds “who identified as a Goth were 27% more likely to have depression at 18 years” than their peers. This blew up the media- but the results were inconclusive. The research could not prove that goth is at fault for the mental health issues of teens, but many articles and concerned parents seemed to ignore the fact that the link between might be muddled- it could be peer contagion, or a preexisting disorder. "I was depressed and ill before I was a goth" Nattalie Richardson, 29, said in response to the idea that goth leads to depression and self harm.

 

The researchers did not specify that depression was causing kids to join the goth subculture, or if the goth subculture was causing their depression. The teens could be attracted to the goth community for a sense of solidarity and comfort, as “the Goth community is traditionally very accepting of marginalized individuals”. It could be that “youths who feel isolated from mainstream society are attracted to this particular group, and may indeed gain support and help through being part of this subculture,” Lucy Bowes, researcher for Oxford University said. "Teenagers who are susceptible to depression or with a tendency to self-harm may be attracted to the goth subculture which is known to embrace marginalized individuals," said Rebecca Pearson from the University of Bristol in Britain. Those who identified as goth had a family history of depression, have been bullied, or have behavioral and emotional problems already. There is no way to prove that if the individual would not have developed depression by 18 years old if they had not been a part of the goth community, but nonetheless, goth teens were three times more likely to be depressed than other, “normal” teens.



Still, researchers say that parents should not try to stop their children from being part of a goth group or being goth, because belonging to a group and having friends provides solidarity and comfort to depressed teens.

“Parents whose children identify with the Goth subculture need not be concerned,” Bowes said. “The majority of teenagers identifying as a Goth in our study were not depressed and did not self-harm.”

Is correlation causation? Should parents of young goths be concerned?

How To Get Alternative Clothes Without Breaking the Bank

So, I'm seventeen years old and I don't have a license, a car or a job. (I know, I'm a deadbeat) Sometimes I feed my neighbors' cats while they're away? That's kind of a job, right? (It's not.) But anyway, I don't have a stable source of income, so I can't really afford extravagant clothes and $50 shoes from dollskill or killstar or etsy or whichever alternative fashion websites are around these days.

So how do I dress the way I want to with the little money I have?

Image from the Garment District's website

First of all: Thrift stores. Lots and lots of thrift stores.
I go to thrift stores and I pick up anything I like and everything black, meshy, lacy, etc.
Most of my favorite clothes are from thrift shops, they're where you can find really unique and vintage clothing that isn't for sale anymore anywhere else.

If anyone lives in the Boston area, my favorite thrift shop is called The Garment District in Cambridge, and they have a huge pile of clothes that you can pick whatever you like out of, and clothes are $2 per pound, or $1 per pound on Fridays! They're also connected to Boston Costume, which also has costume clothing (read: goth year round clothing) such as fishnet sleeves, bone tights, and more. They also sell manic panic, if that floats anyone's hair dye boat.

Secondly: Online!
Ebay, Amazon, and SheIn honestly have some cool and cheap clothes, especially things meant for costumes that are available year round. Look online for wholesalers, too!

Third: Costume and Halloween stores!
Now is the perfect time of year for someone like me to get new outfit pieces.
One of my favorite necklaces (blood necklace, anyone?) is party city couture. The only problem with this is that it's seasonally based, and the clothes have that... Cheap plasticy smell. And aren't very good quality. And the jewelry will turn you green. And the earrings will probably give you an infection, so avoid that. But if your fishnets get holes in them, you'll just look edgier, so give it a shot!

Lastly: Do it yourself!
Never underestimate the power of the DIY. You can dye white clothes black or purple, cut the sleeves off things, spraypaint designs onto your clothes, the world is your oyster!
I'm currently working on a project where I'm cutting the back out of one of my t-shirts and replacing the back with lace from an old skirt my art teacher gave me. This is one of my favorite methods, it's loads of fun and you end up with a unique garment in the end! It's awesome!

There are also tons of videos on goth and punk DIY-ing on youtube including these two by one of my favorite youtubers. (Warning: videos may contain curse words, and are pretty long!)

Creep it real!

Si

PWR BTTM concert in Portsmouth!

PWR BTTM

This is a more personal post than my other ones have been, about my concert experience this past weekend.

So, this past weekend I went to a concert for one of my favorite bands, PWR BTTM!
PWR BTTM's members are Liv Bruce and Ben Hopkins, and they identify the band as "queer punk", which is exactly what I need in my life. Both Hopkins and Bruce are nonbinary and use they/them pronouns, and write about gender identity and being gay.
I went with my friend Katie and my date-people to Portsmouth, NH; decked out in glitter, emulating Hopkins' signature look.


I still can't get the glitter out of my hair.

My friends and I somehow found our way to the front of the crowd, big X's marking our hands.
Then, Q turned to me and said "Oh, my god, Liv is running the merch table!"
I immediately started hyperventilating, because I may or may not have the biggest celebrity crush on Liv Bruce that the world has ever known.

who wouldn't have a crush on Liv, honestly. Just look at them.

After I stopped hyperventilating (actually, that's a lie, I just was hyperventilating less) we went in groups of two (to keep our spot in the front claimed) to buy things... And to see the ethereal being that is Liv Bruce, in the flesh.
After fumbling to buy things and just generally making a fool of myself in front of Liv - who somehow looks better in real life- they asked us if we wanted to take a selfie.


You can tell Katie was REALLY excited to see Ben.

They took the picture, and Ben jumped in last second, wearing no makeup (a shock), and told us we all looked cute and gave us hugs. Which was amazing. I'm still excited about it.
I then applied glitter to complete strangers, which was fun.

Then, the actual concert happened. There were 4 bands playing, PWR BTTM was on last, preceded by Tancred, Lisa Prank, and Bellows, who were all really great musicians (as well as sweet people- we got to meet them as well). Ben came onstage to play with Lisa Prank, and she gave Ben their very own rainbow tiara. It was adorable.

The image says it all.

Then, it was the moment of truth. PWR BTTM was onstage.
"As you can see," Ben said, decked out in blue glitter and greasepaint "I'm not wearing any makeup to the show".
Both members were such good performers, as well as musicians, with their back and forth banter and stories.
My friends and I were super pumped, yelling quips back to their comments. Basically, we were obnoxious and loud. It was great.
"Serenade me!" I yelled at one point.
"I am!!!" Ben shouted back at me.
The bassist, Nicholas (who was not part of the band, but played with them for the show) said, "That's like, the whole thing. You paid us money for us to serenade you."

About halfway through their section of the show, Ben stopped to appreciate a girl's light-up flower crown. I felt a sigh of relief that Ben didn't talk about how obnoxious my group was being. Except that they totally did.
"And to this group in the front, who has been tweeting about the show nonstop."
Called out. Oops.
After the show, Ben and Nicholas came up to our group and thanked us for being so into the show. It was the most amazing thing. ever.

 

And Ben took another selfie with us. With no makeup, clearly.

Ben parted and left us with this final nugget of knowledge:
"You can never tweet too much, and if you ever run out of things to say, jut tweet 'egg'."
Truly iconic.

We got home at 2:30 AM, completely exhausted, and collapsed, still covered in glitter, into bed.
(My pillow looked like a unicorn was massacred in the morning...)

So that was that! I had a really great time with my friends, the music was amazing, and the band members were super nice!

Creep it real y'all!